The world is changing around us and leaders must not be late in picking up the signals. Leaders therefore cannot afford to be blindsided by developments and issues in the economy, technology, social and political areas.
Leaders must be proactive and not narrowly focused on current performance in the work workplace. They should be curious and know that the present turbulent consumer market can be successfully navigated. They cannot afford to be beclouded by an inward looking culture but on a market-driven one that is focused on customers and competitors. Strategic information must be shared across organizational boundaries such as functions, business units and even partners as well as suppliers. Leaders must always balance learning with performance.
Today’s smart leader must spend quality time on framing and reframing decisions. He must ask the right questions and get variety of answers and ideas. There must be clarity on objectives. That is, what the organization must be progressively achieving and accomplishing.
It is definitely not in the interest of the organization if the leader is and myopic and not open-minded. A lot is happening with customers and according to the “Vigilant Quadrant”, the leader must be inquisitive and change-oriented. His organization must be a learning one.
Prof. Paul Schoemaker of the Wharton Business School pointed out that “The most important part of being strategic is to notice that the marketplace around the business is changing and you must not be late picking up the signals”. The leader, according to Paul must embrace “peripheral vision”. He must always scan the periphery and factor-in developments that have significant impact on the business.
Let us now look at the Viable System Model or System Agility (popularly referred to as the grammar of business systems).
In terms of resource allocation for various uses in the workplace, there must be “strong-edge” strategic thinking. Insights should be channeled to achieve goals and objectives of distinction. Intelligent allocations must ride on functional insights. Patterns of strategy must showcase clearly, individuals and teams value contributions. Patrick Hoverstadt said we must jettison conventional strategic approaches for strategies based on day-to-day paradigms. Everyday patterns impact formulation and execution. He defined strategy as “sets of maneuvers that align realistically with the dynamics of every strategic situation” and thereby allow the business to become more agile in its ever-shifting environment. For instance, “we must practice systemic selling”. Do it the way it will really work without wasting time.
To be the Market Leader “agile organizations must look at the market and analyze it. Match the dictates of the market inside out. Do inside out capability choices and identify where you will play well”. To achieve “leaders position”, Patrick advised that we should “get a target position. Create the strategic tomorrow with the actors and let the context surpass what others are doing. Make target moves and look at the relationship between things rather than the things. Understand what is driving identified changes and drive strategic outcomes from the systems background and also look for differentiating parallels”. He added that “we must change our fit to align with the environment. This will give the organization an advantage.
The entrepreneurial leader must have a visionary mindset. His pathway to sustainability is the non-stop engineering of the bridge that will determine tomorrow. He builds trust among his team members and they collaboratively move down the paths together. His deliberate intention, purpose, hope and direction, create traction for genuine sustainability. His “creative” tomorrow is shaped by transformational scenarios. He, in a refreshing everyday manner, articulates the vision and take regular steps to improve or replace the dominant patterns. Time to him, is an opportunity cost because “the essence of being entrepreneurial is time as a choice in opportunity”. The leader becomes the visionary risk taker. Every employee must play significant roles in distinguishing innovations. He is the leader, visionary and entrepreneur. His method is scenario planning that is garnished with scenario thinking.
Scenario planning enables decisions that will make organizations “fit for alternatives”. The tools include; broadening of strategic thinking, flexible alternatives against scenarios, finding the best path forward, adapting, risk management with risk identification, evaluation and prioritization. Also, coordinated application of resources to monitor, minimize and control negative impacts as well as maximum realization of opportunities. Please note that we can also apply some other essential tools in strategic planning known as strategic foresight, mental flexibility (so the organization will not be stuck in path-dependent thinking) and corporate foresight.
Let me conclude with Harnet Casswell’s break-even analysis. Organizations, he said, must “work at the right price”. He added that profitability is not a stand-alone but a critical tool for sustainability. He pointed out that when an organization “increases in scale, management, purchasing, financial, technical and marketing/sales economies must be carefully and regularly managed.
The leader, he added, must also watch out for “diseconomies of scale such as lack of commitment, weak coordination and poor communication”.
As I always say, the smart leader should lead with very subtle and nimble command and control style.
According to Jennifer Jordan, a professor and psychologist, today’s leader must appropriately act out his role as a visionary with total buy-in into the organization’s big picture. He must fully approach his responsibilities with the fact that change and shifting in the marketplace have become everyday occurrences. He must therefore be very open to new ideas and information. In addition, he must be detail-oriented and an accelerator who believes that the workplace must be progressively achieving value on a day-to-day basis.
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